The Merge of Wars
by breannatala
Summary: CROSSOVER: Harry Potter,Animorphs. The Animorphs find themselves in London after hitchhiking a ride on a yeerk ship. What is Voldemort planning? Can they get the Yeerks out of England? After the 5th book for HP, after the 34th book for Animorphs
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Animorphs.**

**Okay, this is a Harry Potter/Animorphs crossover. For those of you who don't know what Animorphs is, it is a book series by K.A. Applegate. It is about an aliens speices, Yeerks, who are secretly invading earth, and the only people who know and can stop them are the Animorphs, five kids and an Andalite (another alien), who have the power to change into any animal they can touch. If you want to do more, do a websearch.**

**This isn't going to be a very long fanfiction. Probably about 10 chapters, but I'm not sure yet. Anyway, enjoy!**

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**.: This is thought-speech :.****

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**Prologue - We are _Where?_**

.:We need to demorph in ten of your minutes, Prince Jake:. Ax stated, breaking the silence.

.:Ax, they are _Earth's_ minutes, and since _you_ are on Earth, they are _your_ minutes, too:. Marco said, irritated. Once again, they were hitchhiking a ride on a Yeerk ship. It wasn't a blade ship, but it was still rather large.

.:Okay, everyone. Ax, you demorph first. We'll follow once you are sure the coast is clear:. Jake said, ignoring Marco. .:And don't call me Prince.:.

.:Yes, Prince Jake.:. Jake rolled his eyes. Or tried to. They were all currently in a very small room, one that had been left alone for the entire six hours they've been on the ship, all in cockroach morphs.

Thirteen minutes later, all six of the Animorphs were back in roach morph to wait for two more hours.

.:So where _are_ they going that is taking this long? I hope we aren't going North again.:. Marco complained. .:We all know how well _that_ turned out to be.:.

.:We are not going North. It seems that we are going East.:. Ax interrupted.

.:East? I hope they haven't infested another part of the country. We won't be able to keep track of anything:. Cassie said. The others silently agreed. As much as they hated to admit it, if the Yeerks were working on infesting other places, the Animorphs wouldn't be able to do much. Suddenly, the door opened and two human controllers entered.

"Yes, we must go now. The Visser wants us to check the _club_ out. It must be ready in two weeks."

.:On them, _now_:. Jake ordered, and one by one, the six roaches climbed on the two humans and hid themselves.

After what seemed like forever, the two men were walking along a street toward the club. They were silent the entire time. Finally, they stopped in front of the building, and the Animorphs ditched their ride before the men entered it, not wanting to be trapped inside.

Finding garbage dump in an dark alley, the demorphed.

"Ax, I think it might be best if you morph human. Tobias, you too," Jake suggested, and the Andalite and Tobias did so.

"What now?" Rachel asked.

"We see what that building is, and what this "club" is about," Jake answered.

"Like _this_? We're in our morphing outfits. We can't walk around like this."

"It's summer, sure we can," Cassie replied.

"Come on, the sooner we get this over with, the sooner we can go home, back to our normal amount of insane-ness."

"Insane-ness? Is that even a word?" teased Rachel.

"Sure it is," replied Marco. And so the six walked out of the alley onto a busy street.

"Um, guys?" Cassie said. "This looks like London."

"And how would you know?" asked Marco.

"I've been here a few years earlier. Vacation." Marco shook his head.

"_London_."

"Yeah." Jake, Marco, and Cassie sighed. "This isn't good," continued Jake.

"Nope."

"Ugh," groaned Rachel, then she pointed to a building. _The Sharing_.

"No. This _really_ isn't good."

"Okay, let's keep walking. We don't want to look like we might try to make trouble. Especially since we aren't in the States." The rest agreed, and they walked down the side walk.

"Kings Cross."

"Where?"

"It's a train station," answered Cassie.

"Obviously," Rachel said as they came to platform 9.

"I think we should go back to cockroaches," said Cassie.

"Why? We are in _London_. No one is going to recognize us."

"If the Yeerks are here, someone might. You don't know which Yeerks are here, at least for the summer."

"I agree," said Jake. "Just, _where_ are we going to morph?"

"Bathroom," Cassie said, pointing to the restroom signs.

Ten minutes later, six cockroaches were coming out from under the doors of the bathrooms, spread out enough to not look suspicious. They were continuing along when a herd of feet were pounding down around them.

.:Climb the wall ahead:. Jake yelled. What happened next was something they did _not _expect.

.:Woah! What happened:. Rachel yelled when, instead of going up the wall, they went _through_ it. And there were still feet unknowingly trying to stomp them.

.:That had to of been the Yeerks doing:.

.:Agreed. Where were all these people coming from:.

.:Who knows:.

.:Tobias? Could you find a place to demorph and check it out:.

.:Sure, Jake.:. Tobias did so, and was surprised once again. .:Platform Nine and Three Quarters:.

.:What:.

.:Yeah. That's what the sign says.:.

.:We should check this out. I don't know why the Yeerks would choose to use trains, but the train is right there. It should take us to where ever they came from. No one seems to be boarding it, and it looks like it is ready to leave.:.

.:Tobias, if we huddle together, could you pick us all up and bring us into the train? I don't know how we would get on, otherwise.:.

.:Yeah. But be in two groups, one for each talon.:. Tobias few down, picked them up, then flew into an empty window. The platform cleared shortly before Tobias had demorphed, so there was no one there to see anything odd.

Seeing the compartment was empty, he put down his passengers.

.:I think it is safe to demorph. It's empty, and no one is on the train. I checked through the windows before.:.

.:It's a castle.:. stated Cassie. They were all in the air, in their various bird morphs, and were irritated. It was raining, and they wanted out of the air as soon as possible.

.:It looks huge. Even if there is someone there, we should be able to steer clear of them:. suggested Jake. They all agreed, and few toward the castle.

It wasn't actually hard finding a place out of the rain. There was a tower that just held a bunch of owls, and the windows were open. The owls irritated Tobias, of course, but they didn't seem to mind him too much. As it were, thought, they all demorphed, or morphed in Ax's and Tobias' case, to human and tried to figure out what to do.

**Chapter One - Two World Collide**

Severus Snape was irritated, to say the least. He needed to owl a letter, and tried to use that as an excuse to escape his coworkers. Unfortunately, it didn't work so well. Albus and Minerva insisted on coming with him, claiming they had letters to send, also.

Opening the door to the owlry, the three entered, and froze. There were six children none of the adults recognize. The kids were frozen, too.

"Who are you?" hissed Snape, wand ready. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw that Minerva and Albus also had their wands out. The kids exchanged a frighten look between themselves. When they didn't answer, he asked again. "When you are asked a question, you are expected to answer," Snape said, switching over to his "strict professor" mode. It worked; one of the boys stood up, and the rest followed suit.

"Hi. I'm Jake. This is Rachel, Cassie, Marco, Ax, and Tobias," Jake answered the man's question, not bothering to lie. They were caught, and he had a feeling these people weren't controllers. Controllers didn't walk around wearing what these people were, and they carried weapons like dracon beams instead of sticks.

"And _what_, pray tell, are you doing here?" Jake looked back at his fellow Animorphs.

"I don't know, sir." It was a partial truth, at least. The man who was asking the questions gave Jake a look that said, "I don't believe you".

"You must have some reason you are here, children, and I suggest you answer truthfully," McGonagall said. When there was no answer from the six kids, just looks between them, Dumbledore decided to get involved.

"Yes, I do believe a trip to my office would be nice. Come along." Jake looked back at his friends. They looked as helpless as he felt.

.:I believe we should go with them, Prince Jake. I do not believe these humans are controllers.:. Jake gave a small nod toward Ax, then followed the old man out of the room.

What the Animorphs saw on the way to the old mans office amazing. They walked in silence, looking at the moving and talking portraits on the wall.

"Kiddies in trouble, yes they are!" sang Peeves when he saw the small group. Unexpectedly, for the Animorphs, the poltergeist threw dropped a few water balloons, as he passed by overhead, one landing on Rachel, the other on Ax.

"Why I. . ." Rachel started, before Cassie stopped her. She looked really mad.

.:What was that:. Ax asked.

.:I don't know:. answered Tobias. .:It was a ghost or something.:.

.:A ghost? Whatever it was, I don't like it. Why would it get us wet? What was that:.

.:It's called a water balloon, Ax-man. I don't know why.:. Finally, they seemed to reach their destination. Which seemed to be some sort of Gargoyle. Jake and Cassie exchanged looks, and all were surprised when it started moving when the old man said "Gumballs". They followed the old man and lady up the moving stairs, and the younger, black haired man followed behind. In the office, Dumbledore conjured extra chairs, and invited the kids to sit.

"Lemon drop?" he offered, watching the children closely, especially the ones named Jake and Tobias. Jake has been the only one who has talked, and Tobias was staring intently, making the headmaster slightly uncomfortable.

"Lemon drop? Op. What is that?"

"Candy, Ax."

"Candy? Dy. That sounds good," he said, taking one from the dish.

"I don't . . . never mind," said Jake. He looked at Ax and sighed. "Just don't chew it."

"Why not? How do I eat it if I don't chew it?"

"You'll probably break your teeth. You suck on it."

"Suck. Ck. Suck. That's a weird word." Marco rolled his eyes.

"Yeah. Weird."

"Anyone else for a lemon drop?"

"No," the rest of the Animorphs answered.

"Now, I must insist you tell us what you are doing here."

"Where is _here_?" Jake asked.

"I don't believe you are in any place to be asking questions," Snape said. Jake just glared at him, then turned back to the old man.

"You are a Hogwarts. Forgive me, I haven't introduced myself yet. How rude I am being. I am Headmaster Albus Dumbledore."

"Headmaster? This is a school?" Jake asked. Dumbledore nodded. Jake quickly weighed his options. He could tell these adults, with the chance of them being controllers, or them not believing them, or he could make up a story. Taking a chance, he voted for telling them the truth. He turned to his friends, making eye contact with each. All of them nodded, so he turned back to the headmaster. "You want to know why we are here?"

"I am sure the headmaster has already made that clear," Snape said.

"Ax?"

"Yes, Prince Jake." Jake glared at the andalite.

"Don't call me 'Prince'," he retorted.

"Yes, Prince Jake." Marco snorted, Rachel shook her head, and the adults of the room examined Jake.

"Don't freak out," he told the adults.

"Why would . . . oh," McGonagall said as she saw Ax beginning to demorph. "What . . ." A minute later, Ax was in his andalite form. "What are you?"

.:I am an andalite.:. Ax answered simply. The headmaster turned to Jake, who he assumed was some sort of leader to this group.

"Are you all andalites?"

"No, he's the only one, thank goodness," Marco said. "Just what we'd need, another arrogant alien complaining about how primitive humans are. No offense, Ax-man."

.:I do not take offence to that, Marco.:. Marco rolled his eyes. .:Tobias, it has been an hour and 43 minutes.:. Snape narrowed his eyes.

"What has been an hour and 43 minutes?"

"That is how long I have been in morph," Tobias answered, the first time he said anything since the adults arrived. "If you in morph for longer than two hours, you get trapped in that form."

"Morph? I thought only he was andalite."

"He is."

"Can you all morph?"

"Yes."

"Then what is he?" McGonagall asked, pointing to Tobias, which caused his to turn his hawk-like gaze on her.

"I am human. I was trapped in a morph a long time ago, but I got my morphing powers back. My true form now is a hawk," Tobias explained, then started to demorph.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, that's kind of a long story," said Jake. "We kinda hitched a ride"

"again," interrupted Marco.

"on a Yeerk ship and ended up. . . where? In England? We took a train here."

"What is a Yeerk?" Harry sighed.

"A Yeerk is an alien. A slug-like parasite that enters your head through your ear, surrounds your brain, and takes control of you," Jake said, flatly. "They are working on taking control of Earth."

"And _why_ were you 'hitching' a ride with them?"

"We knew they were going somewhere, but didn't know where. Last time . . ."

"Last time we did that, we were nearly killed by polar bears, crazy ice monsters, Yeerks, and extremely cold weather. Why we took the chance again, I don't know," interrupted Marco.

"Who are you?" asked Snape.

"We're the Animorphs."

"The what?"

"Teenagers with a death wish," answered Marco.

"How do we know you aren't making this up?"

"What would we get from making this up?" Jake asked. "Nothing. Now, we have a mission to do, so we would greatly appreciate it if you would let us go so we can do what we came here for so we can get home."

"How old you are?" Dumbledore asked.

"Fourteen," Jake answered.

"So, you are telling us that six children are fighting against these . . . Yeerks? Who else?"

"No one."

"You are too young . . ." McGonagall started.

"There is no one else."

"Why haven't you told anyone, then?" sneered Snape.

"Who can we tell? They can be anybody. They are _everybody_. The vice principal at our school, my _brother_, the police. We don't know who we can trust."

"Then what makes you think you can trust us?"

"Because if we couldn't, we would be dead by now, _sir_. If you were Yeerks, we would either have been killed on the spot, or brought to Visser Three and tortured."

"Visser Three?"

"He's ahead of the operations on Earth."

"Yeah, and he's not very nice. In fact, every time we go near him, he tries to kill us with some odd morph," Marco said sarcastically. Suddenly, an alarm went off.

"Albus what is that?"

"That, Minerva, is an alarm saying that young Harry Potter is injured."

"Already? He's been home for what? A few hours?" Snape sneered. Dumbledore sighed.

"Will you check up on him, Minerva? I enhanced the wards. I don't believe it is Death Eater business. There would be many more alarms going off if it were." McGonagall nodded, then left the office. The animorphs looked confused at the headmaster.

"Now, where were we? Ah, yes. And what is it that you need to do?"

"What, our mission?"

"Yes, what else?" sneered, once again, Snape. Jake sighed again.

"We need to stop The Sharing from opening a branch in London. The Sharing is a front for the Yeerks to try and get willing hosts."

"This isn't good. Would you like any help?"

"We could always use help. But I doubt you could."

"A place to stay until we are done would be nice. I don't know about them," Rachel said, pointing to the rest of the Animorphs, "but it would be nice to have an actual bed to sleep in, instead of . . . something else."

"That can be arranged. I do believe headquarters would work, and it would definitely be safer. Everyone is leaving here tomorrow, since the term just ended."

"Headquarters?"

"I do believe there is a lot you don't know. Knowing the burden you currently have on your shoulders, I assume you can keep a secret?"

"Duh," Marco said.

"Hogwarts is a school of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Wizardry . . ."

.:What is that:. asked Ax.

"Magic." All the animorphs just stared at the headmaster.

"First aliens invading the earth. Now magic. This is insane! Will we never have a normal life?"

"Marco, we are _far_ past normal," snapped Rachel.

"Your war with the Yeerks is not the only war going on. The tale is a little long for right now, but if you have specific questions, I will answer what I can," the headmaster said as an owl entered through a window. The owl landed next to Tobias, who seemed greatly irritated.

.:What is up with all the _owls_:. he asked with some contempt.

"What, bird-boy doesn't like owls?" Marco teased. Tobias seemed to glare at Marco. It was hard to tell, since Tobias' hawk face didn't change much.

.:Owls are nocturnal. _I_ am not. I prefer not to deal with them.:.

"Do you _live_ as a hawk?" Snape asked. Tobias switched his attention to the potions master.

.:Yes:. he answered simply. Everyone was silent as the headmaster read the note the owl brought.

"We will be going to headquarters immediately," Dumbledore said, walking to the fireplace. We will be traveling by floo."

"What is floo?"

"Fireplace."

"Huh. Okay, I've come across weird stuff before, but this magic stuff is kinda over my head," Marco complained. Snape snorted.

"Just toss the floo power in, say 'headquarters', and step in. Severus, if you would go first. I do believe Minerva has already arrived with young Harry."

"What happened."

"I do not know, Severus." Snape glared at the headmaster, took the floo powder, then stepped in. He disappeared immediately. The human Animorphs gaped at the sight.

"What if something happens?" asked Cassie.

"Don't worry, nothing will happen." One by one, each animorph, both Ax and Tobias in human morph, stepped through the floo to the Order of the Phoenix headquarters.


	2. Introductions

**Disclaimer: Don't own it.

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Chapter 2 - Introductions**

Harry sat on one of the sofa at headquarters, wondering what exactly happened. The train ride to London was normal, his uncle picking him up was normal. But something happened between the car ride home and him and the Dursleys entering the house.

Vernon Dursley was angry at Harry, at what Harry could only guess was what happened before his fifth year: the dementor incident. Dursley sent Aunt Petunia and Dudley shopping once they were home. Harry remembered being scared, and a lot of pain, but nothing much else.

He knew McGonagall came and got him, and that he was in pretty bad shape. Well, actually, he still was in pretty bad shape, but at least he wasn't bleeding anymore. McGonagall was able to take care of most of the injuries, then she flooed to Hogwarts to get Madam Pomfrey.

So, when the floo flared up, he expected it to be McGonagall or Madam Pomfrey. Instead, it was Snape.

"Potter," Snape hissed, moving away from the fireplace. The floo flared up almost immediately, and a boy Harry had never seen before. "What could you have done already that you got yourself injured?" Another boy came out of the floo, running into the first boy.

"Ugh. I never want to do that again," complained the second boy. "I think I'd rather live the rest of my life as a cockroach." Harry looked at the two, confused, then turned to his professor.

"I didn't do anything." Snape snorted.

"I don't believe that for one minute, Potter." The floo flared once again, and the first boy moved out of the way, but the second boy didn't. A blonde haired girl ran into the second boy.

"Marco! You could at least have had the sense to move," she told him.

"Hey, Jake didn't, Rachel. " The girl glared at the boy named Marco and moved over to the boy Harry assumed was Jake. "So, how did you come from that with no soot on you whatsoever? Is Xena really that immune to getting dirty?"

"Shut up, Marco, or you'll be sorry."

"Oo. I'm soo scar. . . ow! Why did you do that for?"

"I told you to shut up." The floo flared. Another boy came out, but fell to the ground immediately.

"Humans need more legs. Eggs. Two legs are far too unstable."

"Sure Ax, whatever you say," said Marco, helping Ax up. The floo flared twice more, and one more boy and a girl came out.

"I would move if you wish to not get run into," Snape flatly told the group crowding around the fireplace. Next came Dumbledore, McGonagall and Pomfrey.

"Mr. Potter! I was hoping to not see you for the next two months at least!"

"This really wasn't my fault, Madam Pomfrey."

"Yes, I was told that. Come on, let's see what's wrong," she answered. Harry blushed at the amount of people around see this.

"Come, now, everyone. Let's go to the kitchen and talk."

"This is headquarters?" Marco whispered to Jake, but it was still loud for everyone around to hear.

"It's better than the poop infested barn we hang out it," Rachel stated.

"True, too true. No offense, Cassie, but we really do need a decent meeting place. A few comfy chairs, sound proof walls, all the latest technology. And uniforms."

"Not on this again, are we Marco?" Jake asked, seemingly bored.

"Hey, can you blame me?" Harry watched as the group entered the kitchen.

"Who are they?" he asked.

"I don't know. Well, you seem alright. Here," she said, handing him a pepper up potion. "Just get some rest, and don't do anything strenuous for the rest of the day." She flooed out of headquarters, and Harry went to the kitchen. What he saw surprised him. There was a weird, blue creature, looking somewhat like a centaur with too many eyes and a blade tail, Hedwig seemed to be having a not-so-nice "conversation" with a hawk. Of course, the second he walked in, everyone, including the hawk, turned to look at him. Hedwig flew to Harry, and the hawk seemed to glare at Harry.

.:So, you're her owner. Owls:. he said with disgust.

"What's wrong with owls?" he asked, wondering who exactly he was talking to.

.:They are suppose to be sleeping at this time:. is all whoever it was said. Jake turned to Snape, obviously intent on getting whatever his point was across.

"The Yeerks could be anyone. We don't know if there is anyone here from our town. We can't risk being recognized, especially since we are supposed to be home doing whatever they are doing at this time. They can't know we are human. It would be too dangerous for us and our families."

"So they believe you are . . . what? Andalites?" Snape asked.

"Yes. And we want them to keep believing that."

"And if you are suppose to be home, who is there?" Jake sighed.

"We can't tell you that. Just know that we have some allies taking our place for a time."

"Human?"

"No quite. Androids, to be exact."

"Very old androids. Dog loving androids," Marco added.

"So, you have a bunch of robots taking your place while you are here? Won't someone notice?" asked Harry. Marco laughed.

"Well, I know my father will probably wonder why my room is actually clean, but he'll be more happy about it than anything else. And hey, as long as whoever is taking my place doesn't get rid of any of my stuff, I'm fine with that." Rachel rolled her eyes.

"No, they won't notice," Jake said plainly. "And I told Eric to tell them to not clean your room this time. In fact, expect it to be worse when we get back."

"You didn't!" Marco complained. Jake just smirked. McGonagall shook her head.

"You are too young," she said. The animorphs suddenly became very serious.

.:There is no one else:. said that voice again.

"Who is that?" Harry asked. Marco burst out laughing again, and pointed to the hawk.

"That was bird-boy there." The hawk seemed to glare at Marco, then turned his gaze on Harry.

.:I'm Tobias.:.

"Hi," Harry said. "I'm Harry," he told Tobias.

"Which brings me to another question," Dumbledore cut in. "Tobias." Tobias looked at the headmaster. "You said you live as a hawk?"

.:Yes.:.

"What about your family?" There was a sizable pause.

.:I don't have parents, and my uncle probably thinks I'm with my aunt, and vice-versa. They don't care:. he answered, obviously not wanting to talk about it, which Harry only knew oh-too-well. The room was silent for awhile. The silence was interrupted by someone's stomach growling.

.:I believe you are hungry, Marco:. said Ax.

"Shut your mouth, Ax," snapped Marco.

.:I do not have a mouth.:.

"It was a figure of speech, Ax," explained Cassie. "Which works better with those who do have mouths."

"Would you be willing to wait an hour for food?" asked Dumbledore. "Molly will be here soon, and I am sure she would love to make dinner."

"Of course," answered Jake.

"I am interested in your morphing ability," said Snape. "What animals can you become?"

.:Anything we can get close enough to touch:. answered Tobias.

"Anything?"

"Anything with DNA."

"So you could morph another human."

"Yes. But we don't do that unless a mission calls for no other option."

"I see." In the other room, they heard the floo flare up several times, then a bunch of loud noises. Almost immediately, they came into the kitchen.

"Oh, Harry, are you okay?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah," he answered, still paying close attention to the strangers in the room.

"Hey, who are you?" asked Fred, looking at said strangers. Jake sighed, then looked at Dumbledore. He didn't want to explain this again.

"We will explain that after dinner. Molly, would you start dinner?"

"Of course."

"Severus I would like you to stay," said Dumbledore as Snape started walking toward the door.

"I have things I need to get done."

"Anything that can't wait until later this evening?"

"No, of course not," sighed Snape.


	3. Unwanted News

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

**Thanks To: Matt Robare, ****happycabbage, ****Silver Kayasha****, goldenspringtime, ****Arwen-Evenstar-Elf****, and ****Quillian**** for the reviews. **

**Sorry it took so long to update . . .

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**.: This is thought speech :.

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**Chapter 3 - Unwanted News**

The kitchen was full. Dumbledore, McGonagall, Snape, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry, the twins, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Jake, Cassie, Rachel, Marco, Tobias (human form) and Ax (also in human form), were sitting around an enlarged table at what Marco blatantly commented was a more uncomfortable dinner than his dad's last date.

Ax, of course, was discussing how it should _not_ be possible to transform a smaller table into something much bigger with Dumbledore, with McGonagall adding in a few comments. Marco got along fine with the twins, talking about pranks they enjoy and what kind of things they have in their shop, a conversation Jake was willing to be involved in. Cassie was talking quietly with Hermione about something (Harry swore he heard something about magical creatures in there), both obviously uncomfortable with the current situation. Ginny was explaining the current wizard war with Rachel, and Snape had already classified Rachel as a "stupid Gryffindor". Harry and Tobias were silent for most of the time, except for answering a few of Mrs. Weasley's "mother questions", and Mr. Weasley's questions of the muggle world. Harry, for some reason unknown to Tobias, kept looking at him, making his uncomfortable.

Actually, Harry was stealing glances at the "bird boy" (Marco kept calling him that, although Harry thought it was kind of rude) because of his explanation of why he lived as a bird. He knew all too well what it felt like not to be loved by family, and Harry was curious to know if Tobias felt the same way has he did. He noticed he was making the newcomer nervous, though, so settled for staring at his plate, eating slowly as to not make himself sick. All those potions that Madam Pomfrey made him take kind of made him feel ill.

What made Harry even more uncomfortable than the newcomers was Snape eating at the table. He was hoping to not have to see him for two months, but that was obviously out of the question now. For some reason, Dumbledore wanted Snape to stay, probably because of the animorphs. He had a feeling that Snape was going to belittle him for not being able to handle a day of pampering. Harry gave a small bark of a laugh at that thought, then noticed everyone was looking at him.

"What?" he asked roughly, blushing. Everyone went back to their conversations then, sensing that Harry wasn't in the best of moods.

"I have a hard time believing that six children have been fighting an entire empire," Snape said flatly to Jake. Or Tobias. They were both right next to him. Once again, all conversations ceased, only more abruptly than when Harry laughed. No doubt, everyone who wasn't an Animorph wanted to know who these people were. It was Tobias who spoke up.

"We didn't have much of a choice," he said quietly. "Prince Elfangor, the andalite who gave us our morphing power, died protecting earth. We only believed it because we saw it happen. In fact, I'm pretty sure most of us believed it to be a nightmare the next morning. I know I didn't really believe it happened until I changed into my cat.

"If we tried to tell anyone, they'd think we were crazy or playing a joke, if they were human. If they were controllers, they'd kill us. Or worse, bring us to Visser 3, which is probably what they'd do." A collective shutter traveled through the Animorphs.

"Would you be tortured for information?" Harry asked, just as quietly, wondering who Visser 3 was. Torturing is what Voldemort would do.

"Worse," said Marco flatly. "Oh, if we got stuck in morph, they'd probably try to get us to speak before they killed us. Tobias knows what that's like. But no, if they got us in our human form, or are able to demorph us, we'll be turned into controllers. The Yeerk scum will crawl into your ear, flatten, and wrap itself around your brain. By the time you know what's happening, you no longer have any control over your body. The Yeerk talks for you, moves for you, _becomes_ you. And no one around you would be any the smarter, the yeerk having complete access to your memories and thoughts. Death is far better." Silence radiated throughout the room, everyone trying to imagine having absolutely no control over their bodies.

"Yeah, because that is _really_ the best way to tell them what is going on, Marco," Rachel finally spoke up. "But death would be better," she agreed.

The adults in the room were appalled that kids were having to fight the war themselves. McGonagall was about to say something, but Snape beat her to it.

"And how is it that all of you are still alive? If they are truly as dangerous as you say. . ."

"Mostly luck. I would like to think it isn't, but we have the advantage of surprise most of the time. We have spies in their ranks, and there are a few Yeerks who are involved in the Yeerk Peace Movement who give us information when they can," Jake interrupted, and Snape glared at him for it.

"Unfortunately, our spies are programmed to be _peaceful_. Which means they can't help us in anyway, besides give us information, if someone could be hurt," Rachel said, obviously not happy about that fact. After that, everyone was asking questions, and the Animorphs continued to answer: who are the yeerks? How long have they been on earth? Were they in any danger? The questions went on for about an hour when they heard a crash from the other room, and very loud, rude screeching.

"Sorry!" they heard, and most recognized it as Tonks.

"I'll take care of the painting," another voice answered. Remus. As it were, Ax and Tobias had to demorph (no one really wanted to see them morph again), and Harry volunteered to show them where the bathroom was. Harry, not really wanting to talk to anyone, snuck pass Remus, who was trying to close the curtain on Sirius' mother, and went to the room he used last summer. Being here bugged him. He wasn't ready so close to Sirius' death to be back in his house.

* * *

Jake was unable to sleep. After laying in bed for what he guessed was two hours, he quietly got up, making sure to not wake up Marco or Tobias, and made his way downstairs. He made sure he was quiet in the hall, too, because he didn't want to wake up that annoying portrait again. 

He was planning to heading toward the kitchen to get something to drink when he noticed Snape was sitting on a chair, watching him.

"What are you doing up?" he asked.

"Couldn't sleep," Jake replied.

"And why not?"

"Just couldn't," Jake snapped. In reality, he hadn't gotten a good night sleep in a while. A while being about two months. Snape continued to watch him. "What?"

"You seem to be the leader of your little group," the man stated.

"Unfortunately."

"You don't like it?"

"Would you? I don't want be."

"But you rise up to the role."

"Someone has to."

"Of course," the man answered, almost sarcastically. Jake thought about this. Why _did _he rise up to the role? He detested being the one making the decisions. Was he really the only one who could take the leader role? He knew it to be true, unfortunately. Every time he left, the others only got themselves in trouble. He left to the kitchen without saying another word, feeling somewhat less at ease than before, if that was possible._ What is that man trying to do?_ Jake thought. After getting his drink, he turned around and found Snape watching him.

"What?" Jake asked, annoyed, and starting to get suspicious. "I would like it if you would stop following me and watching me."

"I just wish to talk to you," Snape answered flatly.

"Why?"

"I would like to know more about these Yeerks, the situation you children have explained sounds similar to one I have heard outside these walls, from the Dark Lord and his followers," Snape said. He knew that the child would be suspicious, and he had every right to be. He just hoped that Jake would believe him at the end of the conversation.

Snape was right. After saying that, Jake became very suspicious. How did Snape know what this Dark Lord was saying, and how would he know who the Yeerks were? Jake narrowed his eyes at the dark haired man.

"And how did you come across this information?" Jake asked.

"Simple. Now, against my better judgement, I am going to let you know something. It is something the Order members know, so if you have doubts, ask any of them. A few of them most likely also have doubts, as they should."

"Just get on with it," Jake snapped.

"I spy on the Dark Lord, but he believes I am spying for him. If news gets out that I truly am spying for the Headmaster and not him, I will die a very painful death," Snape said angrily. "So I trust you can keep this information a secret?"

Jake thought about this. Most of the people at the dinner table seemed to dislike Snape, and Jake could see why. The headmaster, Dumbledore, did appear to trust him, though. Although Snape was very disagreeable, if he truly was a double spy, Jake saw good reason to be bitter. It was hard enough with a brother as a controller.

"I don't know if I believe you, but I'll keep your secret," Jake agreed, then what Snape said before hit him full force. "What do you mean you've heard about the Yeerks from these people? How would they know?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I believe that the Dark Lord is currently making agreements with them. What they are, I do not know," Snape answered, and Jake groaned inwardly. This wasn't good. The Yeerks would never make agreements with a human, so there would have to be something more about it. If this Dark Lord was powerful enough that they are currently unable to infest him, that is what they are probably working on. And from what Jake gathered, Voldemort had a lot of influence and power over his followers. If the Yeerks succeed in making him a controller . . .

Jake couldn't wait. He ran up the stairs to wake the rest of the animorphs.

"Guys! Wake up! Meeting, _NOW_!" he hissed when he got into the room, then left to wake Cassie and Rachel. Three minutes later, the six of them, cranky and tired, were in the guy's room, staring at Jake, waiting for him to start.

"What is it that couldn't wait until morning?" Rachel spat.

"I've just come across some not very nice news," Jake said. "I was talking to Snape, and he thinks that this Voldemort guy is currently making agreements with the Yeerks."

.:Snape:. Ax asked. .:Are you sure that this human is trustworthy:.

"No," answered Jake. "But we can't push off what he said. It might be possible that Voldemort is just too powerful for the Yeerks to get close enough to infest him, but if they are ever able to do so, he could order all of his follower's to get infested, too. And they wouldn't fight against it because their leader told them that was how it had to be!"

"This is great, Jake," said Marco, nearly falling asleep. "But right now I just want to get asleep. We can't do anything until we know more about it, and we don't even know if it is really going to happen."

"Yeah, but . . ."

"I agree with Marco," said Cassie. "Let's sleep, then deal with it in the morning." Jake agreed, and Rachel, Ax, and Tobias reluctantly agreed, then they all went back to bed, the girls unaware that Snape watched them leave the boy's room and enter their own.


	4. Alliances

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. **

**Thanks To: ****happycabbage****Quillian****, LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin, and ****Beth5572****for the reviews. **

**The next chapter should be longer . . .**

**.: This is thought speech :.**

**Chapter 4 - Alliances**

Severus waited. He wasn't sure whether or not he could fully trust the kids. And if he could, would they help? They appeared to be fighting for good. But would they realize the consequences if they didn't help? Severus didn't know, so he waited.

He didn't have to wait long. The girls were only in the boys' room for a few minutes before they left, still half sleeping, and entered their own room. _That wasn't long to discuss anything_, he thought. They were smart enough to keep their voices down, so Severus had no idea what they were discussing, or even if it had any relevance.

The first ones up the next morning were Jake and Harry. In reality, neither slept much at all, just sat in bed, mulling things over.

"Hi," greeted Harry sullenly when Jake entered the kitchen.

"Hi."

"Er . . ." With nothing else to say, Harry turned back to staring at the stove, deciding whether or not to eat.

"I think you have to put something on the stove to cook," Jake teased. "Unless the magic does it for you here."

"Er . . . yes, I mean, no. Well, no, magic doesn't cook it. I just don't know if I want to eat," Harry answered, trying not to blush.

"I'm just teasing," Jake said, noticing Harry's blush. So, what's to eat. Any cereal or something?"

"Cereal?" Harry wondered.

"You know, breakfast cereal. Comes in a box, you pour milk on it . . ."

"I know what cereal is, I just don't think there is anything here. I've also never had it. My relatives always had real breakfasts, and I don't think they have it in the wizarding world."

"Oh. So, by 'real breakfast', you mean . . . eggs and stuff?"

"Er . . . yeah," Harry replied. _What else would it be?_

"Oh, well, we mostly have cereal at my house. Definitely at Rachel's. Her mom doesn't really cook . . . never mind. So . . . I'm not really hungry," Jake decided.

"Neither am I," said Harry. "Er . . . fancy a game of chess?"

"Chess? I've never played . . . so, no video games, I guess. Not that I should really be playing. The sooner we take care of the Yeerks, the sooner we can get back to . . . well, I'd say normal, but I guess our lives aren't really normal."

"I wish mine was," mumbled Harry, and Jake didn't know what to say, so he stayed silent.

"Um . . . so, want to teach me how to play chess?" Jake asked, trying to change the subject.

"Sure. I think there is a chess board in the library. Or, at least there was last summer. So, what do you have to do with the Yeerks?"

"Stop them, pretty much. As soon as the others wake up and eat, we have to figure out what to do," Jake answered, following Harry into the library. "What do you know about that Snape guy?" he whispered.

"Snape? Some things. Not a lot, though. He hates me, so I try to avoid him as much as possible . . ."

"Yeah, but do you trust him?"

"Er . . . I don't know. He's saved my life several times . . . Dumbledore trusts him completely, I know. Why, is what I don't know."

"Dumbledore? Do you trust him?"

"Mostly, yeah. I'm mad at him right now, but I trust him," Harry said, staring at the wizard chess board on the table. "So, wizard chess is different from real chess. All you have to do is tell the pieces where to move, and they'll move. The pieces fix themselves after the game is finished . . ."

* * *

"I like Hermione," said Cassie, defensively.

"She seems like a know-it-all," Marco said. "Those type of girls are annoying. All they do is read!"

"Marco, you rat!" Rachel said. "Those _type_ of girls? What, you prefer the brainless plastics?"

"Well, as long as they're not smarter than me . . ."

"You are so shallow!" Rachel announced. "I can't believe you!"

"I can. He's always like this," muttered Jake. "Can we get onto business? So we all agree we have two objectives: stop this Voldemort from making agreements with the Yeerks, and get the Yeerks out of the UK?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, then. Now, we just need to find Voldemort."

.:Yes, warning him should be our first objective. From what the magical humans say, he is not someone we want to deal with. Prince Jake has already compared him to Visser three.:.

"He almost sounds worse. Good thing he can't morph, though," said Cassie. "But he can do magic. And Harry said he wouldn't hesitate to kill."

"We need help from Snape," said Jake flatly. "I don't know if I trust him, but he's our only change to get close to him. Since he spies, next time he is called, we could hitchhike on him as fleas or something. We don't want Voldemort to suspect him, so we only can do it if more than just Snape is called. We shouldn't all go, though. I think I should be the one to talk to him . . ."

"Jake, if he kills you . . ."

"I already have planned what I want to say. I think I can do it without him killing me. But I'll need back up."

"I'll go," volunteered Marco, and everyone in the room gave him a weird look. "What? Jake, you're my best friend. I'm not letting you do this alone." Jake nodded.

.:When did you have time to think about this? And get all this information:. Tobias asked.

"I talked to Snape last night, and Harry this morning. As for trusting Snape, well, Dumbledore trusts him and Harry trusts Dumbledore."

"That's all we have to go on?" Rachel asked, hand on her hip. "That doesn't say a lot."

"No, it doesn't, but we don't have much of a choice. So is that basic plan agreed upon?"

"Yeah," Cassie said. "The less of us to go, the better. But what about getting the Yeerks out of here?"

"We should find and blow up the Yeerk pool. Let everyone know there's something going on," Rachel said.

"We'd have to find the Yeerk pool, first," pointed out Marco. "How do you suggest we do that?"

"Well, we know where that club is. We'll start there," Rachel said. "Does anyone have any better ideas?" she challenged. When no one answered, she smirked.

"Well, That's where we can start," Jake agreed. "I'm going to go find Snape or someone that can help. The sooner we take care of Voldemort, we can all work on surveillance," Jake said, getting up to leave. No one stopped him, so he left the room and went down to the living room. He didn't make it, though. On the stairs, he ran into Snape.

"Um . . ." Jake was at a loss of what to call him. Calling him Snape to his face seemed kind of rude. "Mr. Snape?"

"Professor," corrected Snape.

"Professor? What do you teach?" Jake stalled, remembering the others calling him professor.

"Potions," Snape answered flatly, starting to get annoyed. "But I am positive that is not what you wanted to ask."

"Oh, yeah. Is. . . is it safe to talk in the hall? With those paintings . . ." Jake eyed the uncovered paintings, who were obviously pretending to sleep."

"We will go to the lab," Snape answered, and the man walked up the stairs, and onto the third floor. Jake slowly followed, not knowing if he wanted to be in the same room, alone, with the man. After all, he was rather suspicious.

"Now, what is it you wish to speak with me about?" Snape asked when the door was closed. He also warded the door, unknown to Jake.

"Well . . . remember you were saying that Voldemort was . . ."

"Don't speak his name!" hissed Severus, startling Jake.

"Then what do I call him?" he asked, confused.

"Call him You-Know-Who, if you must."

"Okay," Jake replied slowly. "Well, if You-Know-Who is making deals with the Yeerks, we need to stop him. Since you spy, and we don't have a way to find him . . ."

"Yes?"

"Well, next time you are called, we could come along."

"Too dangerous. He would notice!" hissed Severus. No, he wouldn't. We'd be in morph. Fleas or something. And it would only be two of us, me and Marco.

"He will probably kill you."

"It's a chance we'll have to take. I'll have back up, and we _cannot_ have the Yeerks infesting Vold-You Know Who. He has too much influence," argued Jake, and Snape smirked. _This is going to work_, the potions master thought to himself.


	5. Mission 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. ANY of it, except for the plot, and even that is arguable.**

**Thanks To: ****Quillian****searinox****, and LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin for the reviews. **

**.: This is thought speech :.

* * *

**

**Chapter 5 - Mission 1**

"I can't believe I agreed to this so readily," Marco complained. "I must have gone insane."

"Marco, you were never sane, so shut it," Rachel said. "When is that Snape guy coming?"

"Soon," replied Jake. "He said there should be a meeting tonight. He doesn't know if he will get called."

"You know, I don't trust him. He acts too weird. And he's a spy. _And_, it's like he tricked you into this. How do we know that he isn't trying to get us to what's his name for that dude to kill us?" Marco spoke up.

"I trust him. At least, I don't think he works for Voldemort," Cassie said.

"Let's get this straight, though. While you and Mr. Insane over here goes to convince this dark lord not to work with the Yeerks, the rest of us are just spying and trying to figure out what's going on?"

"Basically. Don't do anything but spy."

"Well, that's boring," Rachel said, right before Snape walked in. Behind him followed Dumbledore. Snape, as usual, had a scowl on his face.

"I would like to talk to you children about this 'mission' you feel you need to go on," Dumbledore said, and Rachel narrowed her eyes.

"We've done more dangerous work," she said, irritated. Who was this old dude to tell them what to do? They've been doing this for awhile now!

"And it needs to be done," Jake said calmly.

"Yes, but perhaps in a different way. You five – six are just children. I'm afraid I cannot allow you to do this."

"Not allow us to do this?" Rachel nearly yelled. "We've _been_ doing this!"

"That is my final word. I realize that you six are the only ones to who are currently fighting against the Yeerks, but that can be changed. I know of muggles in the states who would be able to help."

"That would be no good," Jake said, still seemingly calm. "You do not know if they are Yeerks, and if they are, you'd be put in even more danger."

"Then we will work on a way to find who is a controller, as you call them, and who is not. Now, I must be on my way. Severus, you will not allow them to go with you." Snape scowled, but nodded, then Dumbledore left the room. Snape, with his billowing robes, followed.

.:Now what do you do, Prince Jake? The wizard will not allow–:. Ax started.

"They might not allow us to go, but we've done plenty of things we are not allowed to do." Jake got up and closed the door. "I have an idea. We'll have to time it just right, though. Marco and I will morph fleas, then we'll board Tobias. Tobias will land on Snape, or hover above him, and we'll jump onto Snape. Hopefully, he'll be called within the next hour and a half."

.:And if he isn't:. Tobias asked.

"Then we'll jump off, demorph, then do it again. We'll just have to hope he isn't called when we aren't on him."

.:If he isn't, we'll have to work on a second plan.:. Ax said.

"Right," Rachel said. "You know, if Dumbledore won't let you go on this mission, how do you know he'll let us out for our spy mission?"

"We don't. But if he doesn't, we need to find somewhere else to stay. We are here only to take care of the Yeerks, then we'll go back home. We don't need to stay here. Other places will be less comfortable, but more convenient. So, it's agreed?"

"Yeah," said Marco, reluctantly. "But he'll suspect something, won't he?"

.:I fly around the house quite a bit. It will be nothing different.:.

"We'll just have to make sure we time it right. Tobias, make sure you tell us when to jump," Jake said, starting his morph. Marco shortly followed.

.:Of course. I hate watching us go bug. It's so disgusting.:.

.:Then don't watch:. stated Ax.

Ten minutes later, Jake and Marco were on Tobias, who was flying around the house, looking for Snape. He eventually found him in the kitchen. The man watched Tobias fly around, but Tobias pretended to pay no attention to the man. Instead, he estimated where he should be when the fleas would jump. Suddenly, he started counting down.

.:Okay, three, two, one, jump:. Jake and Marco jumped. If they weren't used to blindly jumping off animals as fleas, they probably would have been scared, but they've done it enough to know they wouldn't get hurt. Jake landed before Marco.

.:I'm on him:. Jake yelled, sensing the warm blood below him.

.:I don't think I made it:. Marco stated. .:I don't sense blood.:.

.:None at all:. Jake wondered.

.:I think you're on the shoe, Marco:. Tobias said. .:I have to leave the room, before Snape gets suspicious. Good luck.:.

.:Thanks:. Jake and Marco said together. Marco, catching a whiff of something warm, crawled toward it. After what seemed like forever, he reached the man's flesh.

.:I'm on. He . . .:. Snape started moving, which interrupted Marco.

Severus shook his head. The kids were good, he had to admit. In fact, he would not have even noticed if he hadn't felt the flea crawling on his leg. He resisted the temptation to kill it, knowing it was probably one of the kids. Suddenly, his arm burned. Grabbing his left forearm, he apparated.

.:That was weird:. Jake told Marco in private thought speech.

.:That was in_sane_. Was that Snape . . . what was it called:.

.:Apereting or something like that. I think we should talk to Snape.:.

.:What? Why:.

.:Because if he is already there, he can't turn back. And, because we won't know how to find our way back without help. We have no idea where we are. Remember Snape said that he doesn't know where the meetings are held:.

.:Fine:. relented Marco. .:I hope you know what you are doing.:. Jake didn't answer, just tried to understand the surroundings they were in. He could feel many vibrations, most of which sounded like far away voices. Now was a good time to talk to Snape.

.:Is now a good time to jump? I know you can't talk, but if you can, shake your hand out. I should be able to feel it:. he said, then he felt a bunch of vibrations. .:Marco, jump off.:.

.:Now? Where are we:.

.:Just do it:. Jake jumped away from the heat and blood, much to the flea's disappointment. .:Could you stay afterwards? Find a place to hide, we'll find you. We don't know the way back:. he told Snape. Since he had no way to get an answer, Jake just waited. After a few minutes, the vibrations around disappeared.

.:Demorph:. Marco asked.

.:Yup, I guess so:. Jake answered, starting to demorph. He was glad to find that there was no one around, but he guessed Snape helped with that.

"What now?" Marco asked quietly.

"Bird?" Jake suggested.

"I don't hear any birds around here," Marco said, looking around the clearing they were in.

"I guess we wait then."

After what Jake guessed was an hour, the two animorphs started to hear voices approaching.

"Morph bird and watch my back. I'm going to sneak around them the way they came. I hope that Voldemort is still there."

"Kids with a death wish," mumbled Marco, but he started morphing anyway. Jake didn't bother morphing; he just ran quietly as he could into the woods and toward the voices. Luckily, he passed the group without any trouble. Further on, in another clearing, was a giant snake and a very odd looking guy. He didn't look human, but he didn't look like an alien, either. Just . . . deformed. Eyeing the snake, Jake decided on his tiger morph. That way, he wouldn't appear as weak, and Voldemort wouldn't understand how he could talk. Jake was hoping for the upper hand. He doubted he'd have it, but he was hoping.

After he finished his morph, and he was filled with confidence from the tiger's instincts, Jake stalked forward. When he was where the dark lord could see him, he spoke out.

.:Lord Voldemort:. Jake said, trying to sound respectful. .:I wish to speak with you.:.

"And who is it that I am speaking with?" Voldemort asked, narrowing his eyes at the tiger.

.:Someone who wishes to warn you.:.

"I will not speak with you unless you are in your natural form. I know there are no tigers in this area," Voldemort threatened.

.:My true form is of no consequence:. Jake said, trying his best to sound like an andalite.

"Perhaps, but how am I to know your warnings are valid if I don't see you?" Jake gave a mental sigh. This guy wasn't going to listen. But demorphing could pose many problems. One, if the yeerks did end up controlling him, they'd know that the resistance had at least one human. And they would probably be able to identify him. If Voldemort was already infested, then everything was lost.

.:I will turn to my true form under two conditions:. Jake said, deciding. .:One, you will not harm me. Two, I am free to leave when I wish.:.

"You say you are only here to warn me? Why?"

.:Because you are powerful, and there are those who wish to take advantage of that power:. Jake answered, hoping Voldemort would just agree already. Being around him was like being near Visser Three . . . you could just _feel_ the evilness pouring from him. Voldemort gave a nod.

"I agree to your terms," he said. Jake, with a feeling we was making a big mistake, demorphed. "You are but a child," Voldemort said.

"I am here to talk with you about an alien species called Yeerks."

"The Yeerks? I have heard of them."

"Have you made negotiations? Because they won't keep to any agreements," Jake said. "They'll find a way to infest you."

"It is not your matter to worry about agreements I make. But consider me warned. You may go, now, before I decide to change my mind about our agreement." Jake nodded, and left in the direction he came. When he was sure that he wasn't followed, Harry morphed owl.

.:That was too easy:. remarked Marco, and Jake agreed. But they couldn't do anything about it at the moment. Either Voldemort decided to take his warning, or he did. They had no control over it now. .:Snape's further back in the woods.:. Jake followed Marco to where they saw Snape sitting on a loose stump of a tree. They both landed and demorphed.

"I am to believe that you warmed the Dark Lord without getting hurt?" Snape asked.

"Yeah," replied Jake. "But who knows if he will listen?"

"No one tells the Dark Lord what to do. Morph . . . something for the way back. I won't be able to apparate both of you in human form, and I don't want to take responsibility for you two being here."

Ten minutes later, they were back at the Order headquarters, in bed. Jake gave a quick briefing to the others, and they all agreed that Voldemort probably wouldn't listen.

.:It was worth the try:. Ax told them all.


	6. Mission 2, Part 1

**Disclaimer: Don't own it. ANY of it, except for the plot, and even that is arguable.**

**Thanks To: Isis the Sphinx, Insane Seto Fangirl, AquaRiasderawr, Doc Rein, Proops, and LostGryffindorFoundSlytherin for the reviews.for the reviews. **

**.: This is thought speech :.**

**Chapter 6 - Mission 2, Part 1**

"What are these? Eese? Ax asked, in human form. They were currently in the kitchen of the Order headquarters, trying to discuss what to do next. Also in the room were Snape, Dumbledore, and Harry. Snape and the Animorphs agreed that the mission the previous night would be kept quiet from everyone else.

"Jelly beans, Ax-man," Marco said. "You've had them before."

"Those are every flavor jelly beans," Harry said. "And I really do mean every flavor. I got one that tasted like sand once. At least, I think it tasted like sand. I've never had sand before . . ." he trailed off, realizing he was rambling. He really wasn't good with meeting people, contrary to what everyone thought. The Dursley's didn't do anything to help that his entire life. _At least I don't have to go back there_, he thought to himself.

His aunt and Uncle never hit him before. They were a little rough, yes, but they never hit him. That changed the second Harry entered the house this summer, though. Harry didn't understand why they were so mad at him, but he assumed it had something to do with the previous summer. He had thought that they'd be over the dementor thing by now, but they obviously weren't. It didn't help that Dumbledore wrote a letter to Aunt Petunia saying that Sirius was killed.

The bad thing about not having to go to the Dursley's anymore was that he had to stay at headquarters. If Harry wasn't so scared about being killed by his uncle, something he wouldn't put past the man right now, he would rather be stuck on Privet Drive, ignored, than be at Sirius' old house.

"Yum," Ax said after tasting one. "Tastes similar to cigarettes. Ts. That's a good sound. Ts." Jake, shaking his head, rested his face in his hands.

"He eats cigarettes?" Snape asked flatly.

"He eats a lot of things he shouldn't when in human form," Jake answered, rolling his eyes at Ax, who was now eating the jelly beans like crazy. "At least it's just a candy," he mumbled. Jake looked around the room. Currently, it was the animorphs plus Harry and Snape – who was reading the Daily Prophet, the wizarding newspaper – in the room. Dumbledore was somewhere else, which was fine with him. The problem was, though, he didn't know if he should let them in on what was going on. Snape helped him before, and might be able to help them again, but Harry . . . well, actually, Harry was a couple years older than the rest of them. Making his decision, he became serious. "We need to get back onto business. The sooner we can get this done, the sooner we can get home and let the chee get back to their lives."

"Chee?" Harry asked.

"Long story," Tobias said. "And I don't know if we can tell you." Harry shrugged.

"So, we take turns watching The Sharing. We try to get into it, and see if we can find a yeerk pool. Simple mission," Rachel said. "We've had tougher ones."

"Yes, but in those, we had more of an idea of what we were up against. We have no idea how many yeerks are here," Marco said.

"What do we do when we find the Yeerk Pool?" Cassie asked.

"Blow it up, of course," Rachel said.

"We'll figure that out later," Jake said, waving Rachel's suggesting off a bit, "even though blowing it up may be our only option." Everyone sat in silence for awhile and Jake thought. "Is there anyway we could get something explosive if we need it?" he asked Snape, who looked up with irritation.

"I could supply something," Snape said, his voice still flat, and Jake nodded.

"Great. Now, we'll take it in shifts. How long is it to London?"

Jake watched as Harry looked at Snape while Snape stared almost blankly at him, the man's eyes boring into his own head. He had stared into Visser Three's eyes before, though, so it didn't bother him. There was no hostility in his eyes. In fact, there was almost no emotion. That was bordering on _way_ too weird for him. Finally, after staring at the man for much too long, Jake blinked and Snape put down the paper.

"I will speak to Headmaster Dumbledore, but I believe that the quickest way to the area of town you wish to go to is to floo to the Leaky Cauldron. From your descriptions, the building should only be a few streets away."

Looking around at his fellow animorphs yet again, he saw them all nod, aside from Ax, and he looked back at Snape. "Professor Snape, we'll need to start as soon as possible."

"Is there anything I can do?" Harry spoke up.

"No," Snape said immediately, but Tobias shrugged.

"We don't know much about London – or England for that matter – so telling us about what to expect would be nice," Tobias said and after glaring at the professor for a few seconds, he turned to him.

"I can do that," he said. "I grew up in the muggle world, so I know a lot about it." He glared once more at Snape and pushed his chair roughly away from the table. "Loo," he mumbled before leaving the kitchen, and all the animorphs looked at Snape.

"I will contact the headmaster," the professor said, standing up and leaving the kitchen, too, leaving the animorphs on their own.

"Shifts of three?" Jake asked, and the rest nodded. Cassie spoke up, though.

"Should we go as birds? We don't really know the animals from around this area. If we are birds that aren't around here, we'll definitely stick out."

"I know birds," Harry said from the doorway.

"_You_ know birds, Potter? You don't spend time studying the courses you should," they heard Snape from behind Harry. "Don't stand in the doorway." Blushing, Harry entered the kitchen and sat down, shrugging a little.

"When I got Hedwig, I became interested in birds. It was something I could read at the Dursley's openly without them getting angry. If you're going to be in groups, a starling or a finch would be the best, even though you usually won't find a lot in areas without trees. Better than nothing, though. Blackbirds might work, though. If you are alone, kestral might work best. There's a place that houses birds near the Leaky Cauldron, sort of like a living museum. I went there a few times before my third year . . ."

"Great!" Cassie said.

"Well, let's go," Rachel replied, standing up.

"I can give you the money to get in," Harry said, also standing up. "It's not much, and it would be better than sneaking in. Can I go?"

"No," Snape and Dumbledore said at the same time. "It simply isn't safe enough," the headmaster continued.

"I'll get the money," Harry grumbled, and Jake kinda felt bad. He was probably trapped in the house, and even though it hadn't been long, he knew that if he was expected to stay inside all the time, he would go crazy. Not a fun prospect. Harry came back a few minutes later with some paper money.

"That will be more than enough," he said. "They're probably open until seven, so if you want time to decide on birds, now would be the best time to go."

With that, Harry left, and the animorphs turned to the two adults.

"Are you positive that you wish to do this?" Dumbledore asked.

"We don't have much of a choice, do we?" Marco asked bitterly.

"No, I suppose you don't." Dumbledore handed him several pouches. "There's enough floo powder in there for about forty trips. Muggles are able to use the floo, so you will only have troubles finding your way into the Leaky Cauldron. When you leave the building, make careful note of where you are and you should be able to find your way back. Muggleborn parents are able to find it when they try."

"Thanks," Jake and Cassie said and the same time, and the six were led to the fireplace in the next room.

"Make sure you leave at the correct fireplace, and good luck." Dumbledore left the Animorphs alone in the room, and Jake looked after him, bewildered. _Make sure you leave at the correct fireplace . . . _The old man's words echoed in his head. How were they suppose to know? They traveled through the floo before, but was this somehow different? Jake didn't remember being given that suggestion before. Looking around to see if Harry was around, and seeing that he wasn't, Jake looked at his friends and then at the fireplace.

"Let's go," Rachel said, taking some floo powder from the bag Jake was holding and threw it into the fire. The fire turned green and Rachel stepped into it without hesitation. "Leaky Cauldron," she said and she disappeared into a swirl of green. One by one, they fallowed, Jake last. Jake didn't know about the others, but he felt weird coming out of a fireplace, but when he looked around, no one was paying any attention to them, so he tugged on Marco's shirt and they all followed him quietly out of the pub.

"Which way?" asked Cassie and the rest shook their heads. There didn't appear to be anything that looked like it would house birds. Just as Jake was about to choose a direction, he remembered to look at where they came from and saw that there was no building, but they were between two distinct buildings.

"How are we supposed to get back to a building that doesn't exist?" Marco asked, kicking a stone away from him.

"I can sort of see it," Cassie said, and everyone looked at her. "I know it sound weird; I mean, I can't see it, but I can kind of picture it in my head. I think . . . I'll be able to find it again."

"Good," Jake and Marco said together immediately. Honestly, Jake couldn't even picture where a building could be. The two that were there were pretty close together.

"So which way, then?" Rachel asked this time, looking at Jake, but Jake just shrugged his shoulders.

"I think it would have helped if Harry had come along," Tobias spoke up, the first time for a long time.

"Yeah, it would have," Jake mumbled, indicating a direction with his head. "Let's go this way. He said it was near, so if we don't come across it, we can turn around and go the other way."

"Yeah, but what if it's not on this street? We can't just wander around until seven."

Jake shrugged, not knowing really what to say. After they walked awhile, though, he spoke up.

"I guess if we don't find it, we start off tonight with owls and asked Harry where it is later," he said, but a few steps later, Tobias spoke up.

"There it is!" Tobias said, pointing across the street. _Flock_, it was called. Not a very descriptive name, but underneath it said, "Living Bird Museum," so Jake took a guess that it was probably the place they were looking for. There weren't many cars traveling in the area, so they crossed the street where they were and entered the building.

"Hello!" someone greeted them in a very British accent. "Here to meet some birds?"

"Yup," Marco answered, and the man collected their money before leading them further into the building.

"We're only open for another hour, but that should be enough time to look for a bit."

"Can we hold any of the birds?"

"A few of them are tame enough," the man answered. "Anything of interest?"

"Kestrals. Starlings," Rachel suggested.

"Finches," Jake added.

"Ah, finches. We have a lot of those, here. There are many, many different species of finches. Now, we have greenfinches and goldfinches here," the man continued, leading toward an area of the building that had several different birds, some of a yellow gold color, some of several different colors.

"The yellow ones are the greenfinches and the birds with different colors are the goldfinches," the man said.

"I think I like the greenfinches the best," Cassie said. "Can I hold one?"

"Have you ever held a bird before?" the birdkeeper asked, and Cassie nodded.

"My parents are vets, and we keep injured animals in my barn," she answered, giving the man a sweet smile. The man smiled back and carefully opened the bird cage and reached his hand in slowly. That was the thing about Cassie: she _always_ knew what to say to make a situation go her way. It was perfect for situations like this. It was one of the things I liked about her, but it wasn't something you'd normally expect.

When the guy caught a bird, he gently handed it over to Cassie and after a moment, the bird calmed down a lot. After petting the bird's feather for a minute or so, she gently handed the bird off to me and I concentrated on the bird to acquire it's DNA.

"It's beautiful," Cassie said as I passed it off to Rachel, who looked at it with squinty eyes for a moment before petting the small bird's head. Jake looked at her, wondering why she was only petting the head, but turned his attention back to the birdkeeper, who was talking more about the birds. Eventually, they moved on to the kestrals and a few other birds, which the rest of them picked and chose what they wanted. Nearing seven, they left, everyone but Cassie a little bored.

"Let's find the Sharing building," Rachel said as soon as they left. "Birds?"

Finding a dark place to morph, they all morphed into greenfinches. Jake noticed that the bird mind was very nervous and he kept on flitting about. When he got the animal mind under control, he fluttered – because flying in that form wasn't quite like flying in a larger bird form – to a ledge above him, and the others followed.

.:Let's get higher!:. Rachel said, and Jake could tell she was excited. He had to admit, it was fun to flutter about. Better than being in fly form, which in itself was exhilarating.

.:We must find the building before it gets dark, Prince Jake, if we wish to stay in these forms,:. Ax said. .:If I am correct, we have perhaps 72 minutes before the sun is below the horizon and these are birds that must live in the light.:.

.:Okay, everyone. Split up, but stay within thought speak range. Remember, it was near the train station.:.

.:You know, someone could just demorph and ask where the train station is. It would save us time,:. Marco said, and the group of birds settled down.

.:That would work,:. Jake said after awhile. .:Who wants to?:.

.:I'll do it,:. Rachel said immediately.

.:What a surprise,:. Marco said sarcastically.

.:I'll ask,:. Cassie said before any fights between them could start and Jake gave the go ahead. Cassie flew from the group to where they morphed before and demorphed. She was shoeless, but her leotard looked normal enough, so Jake hoped that no one would be suspicious when she asked for directions. He watched, trying to stay close enough to hear, as she asked politely for the directions from some old guy with what was probably his granddaughter. The man gladly pulled out a piece of paper to write/draw directions on and Cassie soon thanked him, said bye to the little girl and made her way back to the alley after the two continued on their walk. After she studied the directions for a bit more, she folded the piece of paper and put it in the trash before morphing back into a bird.

.:Easy,:. Jake said, and Rachel and Cassie agreed.

.:So we find our way there,:. Marco spoke up. .:Then what?:.

.:We stake it out,:. Tobias finally spoke up. .:Then we figure out what to do.:.

.:Pretty much," Jake replied. .:When we find it, how about . . . me and Marco take the first shift. Hour and a half shifts.:.

.:Weren't we going to do three at a time?:. Ax asked, and Jake looked at the bird he figured was the andalite helplessly as his bird form could.

.:I guess we could. Maybe two at a time would be better so we all can have off three hours for sleep.:.

.:I like that idea,:. Marco spoke up. Rachel started to say something, but Jake cut in.

.:Okay, we'll do hour and a half shifts, then. Let's go.:.

They flew off with Cassie in the lead. It didn't take them long to get to Kings Cross and it was easy to trace back to the Sharing building.

.:Everyone remember the way?:. Jake asked.

.:More or less,:. Rachel answered, but everyone else replied in the affirmative.

.:Let's go back, then,:. Cassie said. .:Get some rest or something. Who will take the next shift?:.

.:How about you and Rachel, Cassie? And then Tobias and Ax can have the next.:.

.:Works for me,:. Rachel said. .:See you!:. Rachel fluttered away quickly and Rachel, Tobias and Ax followed, leaving Jake and Marco to sit on top of the building.

.:Do you think they'll expect us 'andalites' to be in England?:. Jake asked.

.:Who knows? Let's play it safe and stay _out_ of the way.:.

.:Let's,:. Jake answered and they worked their way into a bush across the street where they could easily see the building. Settling in for the short time before they would have to morph owls, they began talking about the newest video game that Jake's dad bought him, careful to watch for anything suspicious.


End file.
